Dani withdraws from Washington due to illness.

Officially annoyed right now.

Seems like that's going to be the case, eddy. She might get a wildcard for Cincinnati as she's done well there in the past and she's a popular player but I don't expect her to get one for Toronto as she didn't get in two years ago when she was ranked higher. New Haven might give her a wildcard as she's played at that tournament a lot. At the same time, Daniela's more likely to get some wins in qualifying and it would be better that she gets wins and points in qualifying than getting a wildcard and then losing in the first round.

Daniela's not playing in New Haven so her next tournament will be the US Open. She'd have had to qualify for New Haven unless she got a wildcard and New Haven would have three rounds of qualifying and the qualifying field is quite strong so that could have been a factor in her not playing. Another possibility is that she wants to rest and prepare for the US Open and/or doesn't feel up to playing this week. Daniela's last two matches were thrashings from good but not exceptional players and she looked sluggish in Istanbul plus she missed Washington and Toronto so I'm concerned about her form and fitness. This will be the fewest tournaments she's played between Wimbledon and the US Open.

I'm sure Daniela will be well prepared for the US Open and give her very best effort in New York.

This is a good question right now. What does Daniela play next?

I was sent a tweet from @BritishTennis last week, joyously announcing that Daniela is going to play in the 2015 Aegon Open.
Honest.

We're enduring one of the longest stretches of no on-court Daniela ever. This, of course, is dangerous for someone with a warped mind like mine. If you dare, read on as I relate this creation, not of where Dani will play next, but of how she did in a tourney that has never existed and how a true fan played a part in allowing a fantasy of his, and of all her diehard faithful, to come to pass. (There's more to this tale than will be written here, but there may well be only so much you guys can take.)

Yours truly is a host of a talk show on Sports Radio 66 in New York City in 2011. I also have the gig of play by play announcer of 6 live women's tennis telecasts a year on MSG Plus. In August, after 14 years of the TV gig, Daniela finally appears on one of the telecasts. She, as we remember, was having her best year, and by reaching the quarters of the Citizens Bank Open, a first time event at a new complex in Trenton, New Jersey, I was finally able to meet her in person and interview her. I took the opportunity to introduce Daniela to my wife, and they hit it off immediately. Knocking off Stosur, Jankovic and Svetlana, Dani wins the event.

The next day, Daniela was my in-studio guest on my radio show. After discussing her chances for the US Open, we go to a commercial break. Daniela tells me that despite her high level of play, she wondered about how well she would do at the Open because she had always had trouble with the distractions of the big city (media,paparazzi, creepy autograph seekers). Rather than coming back to the show and grilling her about this possible fragility of her mind, it's the talk show host to the rescue. Living in a high rise in upper Manhattan, I was aware of an apartment available one floor below mine. With my wife's help, we got the high rise owner to agree to let Daniela use the apartment for the time she'd be in New York for the Open.

With the high rise 25 minutes away from the National Tennis Center, and with the building having several exits, the paparazzi et al never tracked Daniela down, relaxing her greatly and allowing her to have a quiet place to rest and hold meetings with her team. My wife and I opened our apartment to Daniela. She ended up visiting with us almost every night, somehow found both of us to be humorous, was able to relax even more, and became friends of each of us. All this helped Dani to keep her level high, and she cruised to the semi-finals.

Daniela faced two-time defending champion Kim Clijsters, who she had never beaten, in the semis. The match began while I was on the air. With Dani trailing 3-6 0-2, my final caller, a fan of Kim's, gloated as only an obnoxious New Yorker can do. I reminded him that matches are best 2 out of 3, signed off, and went into a TV lounge at the station. Daniela roared back and beat Kim to reach the first Grand Slam final of her career. It was a seminal moment for this Daniela fan, and my reaction was to cry for several minutes.

#1 in the world Caroline Wozniacki stunned Serena Williams in the other semi (remember this is a fantasy). Daniela comped tickets for my wife and me for the Saturday night final. Our excitement was palpable, but was quickly knocked down when Caro played the set of her life, taking the set 6-2. Daniela then dropped serve twice and was down 0-3 in the second. Digging deeper than she ever had before, she evened things at 4 as 2/3 of the fans got behind her loudly. The set went to a tiebreaker. Twice Dani faced match points. Twice she escaped, the second time with a drop shot. After winning the tiebreaker on a lyrical backhand down the line, she did the biggest fist pump ever and screamed in Slovakian This match is mine!!

And so it would be. Daniela dominated the final set, 6-3. When Caro went long on match point, Dani fell backwards, overwhelmed at her first major title. As only she would do, during her thank you speech after the match, she praised Caro and saw how she was on the verge of tears. Daniela excused herself, put down the microphone and walked over to Caro and embraced her.

Well past 1:00 AM, Daniela went to my apartment. When I answered the door, she screamed I DID IT, ALEX and leaped into my arms. She did the same to my wife moments later.

That's the story. My fondest hope is that this will not get me evicted from the Forum!

Not to be an alarmist, but the IPTL site doesn't mention Daniela on any team. Anyone have inside information?

I checked the teams earlier in the month and Daniela was still being advertised for the Japan Warriors. Now,as you say,she is nowhere to be seen. Maybe her injuries haven't healed sufficiently?

The IPTL website has Mirjana Lucic-Baroni listed instead of Daniela. The Japan Warriors site still has Daniela listed but they might not have updated it. Philipp Kohlschreiber's now listed on the Japan team on the IPTL website instead of Vasek Pospisil who was also on the initial roster.